#darknessaroundus

This year I was honored to be Secret Santa for @darknessaroundus! Here is a cozy Betty and Jughead drinking hot chocolate by the fireplace~

I hope you have a wonderful holiday, and a happy new year!

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

Although a lot of fics place them there, I don’t think Betty and Jughead would like living in NYC very much - maybe they’d try it for a few years, and/or go to college there, but not live there long term. My lifelong Mid-Atlantic-er bias is showing but I think they’d go for someplace in the region that’s not as expensive but still has enough going on to be an interesting place to live. I like imagining them somewhere that’s a little more chill, like Philly (I’ve written multiple stories that alludes to one or both of them living there, ha). Or Baltimore, maybe? (As much fun as I would have writing them in a fic set in DC, I don’t see it as a place either of them would be interested in. Jughead would probably hate it.)

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

I’m so interested in an AU that sort of spins off from 1x07, into a scenario where Jughead actually does get railroaded into being accused and eventually convicted for the murder of Jason Blossom. Then he ends up getting released a few years later when new evidence surfaces proving he’s innocent. What would Betty and Jughead’s relationship look like, after being cut off so dramatically right as the two of them were on the verge of falling in love? Maybe she started dating Archie after Jughead was in prison for a while - what happens when the guy she has the stronger, more genuine connection to comes back into the picture? 

I have thought about writing this  many times but what I really want is for someone else to write it!! lol

@mistressofmalplaquet - I support every single one of your hashtags.

OOC is one of my top DON’T’s as a writer. If I, a little author on AO3, can stay true to character then the powers that be can also do it. #annoyed 

Hello you magical unicorn of glitter! 

Betty Cooper, most precious, coming right up! Enjoy, @darknessaroundus!

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From this list of delightful questions!

19) Have you ever stopped reading a fic? Why or why not?

I answered this here, but I will add something that really exposes one of my bad habits.

I don’t always handle angst very well. I’ve read a few breakup fics that left me feeling like I had been recently dumped up with, for a couple of days. So generally, when I am reading a fic that starts to get too sad or traumatic for me, I will jump to the last chapter and kind of skim to see if the story ends roughly where I need it to end, or for an unfinished fic, to see if that the last chapter leaves off somewhere other than the narrative equivalent of the bottom of a deep well of misery, and then do some emotional algebra to determine if I can keep going.

I have actually stopped under these circumstances, on two of the best fics I have ever read. I waited/am waiting for them to complete before I go back.

23) What do you wish more fic authors would do?

Answered here, but I’m going to add something because you, @darknessaroundus, are an absolute master of this.

I wish more authors would experiment with writing against the traditional HEA of “married OTP and baby makes three.” I love the happy domesticity of marriage and parenthood fics as much as the next reader, but there are already SO MANY of those.

There is a special place in my heart for stories where someone really doesn’t want to get married, and the payoff isn’t a wedding, but the happy realization that commitment comes in all different forms. Couples who can’t get pregnant, and decide to adopt, or they make peace with childlessness. Blended families where a step-child isn’t just a placeholder until a biological child can be conceived to “really” complete the family.

24) What do you wish more fic authors would stop doing?

OH MY GOD THIS ONE WAS SO HARD TO ANSWER, I HAVE DISCARDED LIKE EIGHT DIFFERENT RESPONSES FOR THIS QUESTION! BECAUSE WHO DO I THINK I AM HAVING ANY OPINION ABOUT WHAT FIC AUTHORS SHOULD STOP DOING?

This isn’t exactly a widespread issue, however, I have noticed it enough to form an opinion on it. I would love it if authors who are not from the country where there fic is taking place would not skip the step of getting a cultural/slang beta, or at least do some google searching to update some of the obvious inconsistencies. Nothing takes me out of a fic about American teenagers faster than reading them talking about what they saw on the telly while on holiday.  Alternatively, make them not American teenagers! I think I like that solution even better!

42: do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it!

yes! it has an excellent number of plants, also they have this like, hanging plant art installation? it’s vibe is very industrial chic, but if industrial actually meant A LOT of warm wood furnishings and accents. burlap covered overhead lamps. The art there is always really good and I never had to listen to my own music because their playlists are the perfect vibe without actually being music I know too well and thus become distracted by. Their coffee drinks are VERY good, one is called the ‘thailight zone’ which is basically an iced latte with coconut cream, but probably also some spices. Wow, I need to go there immediately. 

55. what's the most dramatic thing you've ever done to prove a point?

hahaha I mostly only threaten to do petty things rather than actually doing them... BUT I will share my all time fave callback at a man, because that’s what I can think of right now.

The night before one of my closest friends got married, we dressed up in matching pinstripe pajamas and went bar hopping in River North, which is a kind of ritzy yet douchy ~clubby area in downtown Chicago. So a lot of people were really staring at us because we were sticking out and essentially just sprinting around like idiots to see which clubs would let us in for free. One guy tried to be like “hey” as I was running by, and of course I ignored him. So he yells “BITCH!” at me, so I turned around and screamed “I’M A BITCH IN PAJAMAS!”

I LOVE APPRECIATION and oh my gosh you fill MY heart with joy with all of this love and support and squishy words that make me feel like hugging things and writing more bughead love and burying my face in pillows until blushes die down. Thank you for this. *sniff* Ugh there are many feelings happening and not enough words. WELL THEN. 

Gosh take all the Audrey Hepburn heart-melting smiles because you legit made me tear up, madam. Thanks for the love. I hope you do enjoy the fic. Knowing that you not only like the original premise but also trust it in my hands is…well…it’s special. Thank you. I love Bughead and this fandom and I’m so happy there are people like you that are a part of it. 💛💙